Feed valve for plastic materials



Jan. 13. 1925. 1,523,122

R. HELLMANN I FEED VALVE FOR PLASTIC MATERIALS Filed April 29, 1924 INVENTOR Patented Jan. 13, 1925.

RICHARD HELLMANN, OF LONG ISLAND CITY, NEW YORK.

FEED VALVE FOR PLASTIC MATERIALS.

Application filed April 29, 1924. Serial No. 709,816.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, RICHARD HELLMANN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Long Island City, county of Queens, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Feed Valves for Plastic ,Materials, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to feed valves for plastic materials and more particularly to a quick acting valve for controlling the supply of plastic food materials, such for instance as mayonnaise salad dressing to bottles, jars or other receptacles or containers in whiclrthe material is vended.

' It is "the primary object of my present improvement to provide a valve for the above purpose which is so constructed that it will not very quickly to effect a complete cut-off of the flow of the material, and thereby obviate the possible separation of its constituent ingredients.

In one embodiment of the invention I provide a horizontal wall in one section of the material feed conduit or pipe having I diametrically opposed feed openings therein. Upon the upper side of this Wall a double winged valve is rotatably mounted, the

wings thereof being associatedywith the respective feed openings and provided with means to engage the opposite edges of the openings and limit the movement of the valve to open and closed position. Suitable manually operable means extending exteriorly of the feed pipe is provided for the purpose of rotating the valve member to its open or closed position.

It is also a further general object of the invention to provide a feed valve for the above purpose which is very simple and inexpensive in construction, will not become clogged and which may be easily and thoroughly cleaned and maintained in a perfectly sanitary condition.

WVith the above and other objects in view, the invention consists in the improved feed valve and in the form, construction and relative arrangement of the several parts as will be hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and subsequently incorporated in the subjoined claim.

In the accompanying drawing wherein I have illustrated one simple and practical embodiment of the invention and in which similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views:

Figure l is a fragmentary elevation showing a portion of the feed conduit,'the" valve operatingelement being in closed position;

Figure 2 is an enlargecbsectional view taken on the line 22 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a bottom plan view of the valve, the valve element being in closed position; and i Figure 4 is a top plan view of the double winged valve member.

Referring in detail to the drawing, 5 designates a section of the feed pipe orconduit which is suitably connected with a main hopper or other source of supply. A coupling member 6 of cylindrical form is interposed between this pipe section 5 and a second pipe or conduit section "(not shown). This coupling membenconstitutes an open ended casing for the valve and is provided with a horizonta l wall or plate T in spaced relation to one of its ends. At diametrically opposite points, this plate is provided with openings 8, which in the illustrated construction, are of'substantially triangular form, the outer edges I of said opening being concentric with the body wall of the member 6 and the side edgesof said openings extending radially with respect to the center of the plate 7.

Upon the upper side of this plate 7 the double winged valve member or shutter 9 is disposed, said shutter having a central rectangular opening 10 therethrough to receive a correspondingly shaped section 12 of the shaft 11 which is rotatably mounted in the central opening formed in the plate T.

Each of the wings 13 of the valve shutter 9 substantially corresponds in shape or contour to the openings 8, and the outer edges of said wings are substantially concentric with the outer edges of said openings. These outer edges of the wings as well as the side edges thereof are beveled as indicated at 14, to provide knife edges thereon. Each valve wing 14 adjacent one of its side edges is provided with a depending stop pin 15 which extends through one of the openings 8 in the plate 7 for a purpose which will presently appear.

An operating shaft 16 is rotatably mounted in the opposite sides of the member 6 and at one of its ends is provided with a suitable handle 17. This shaft has a beveled pinion 18 fixed thereon which meshes with a similar beveled pinion 19 secured upon the lower end of the shaft 11.

From the above description, it will be readily seen that when the handle 17 is swung from the vertical position shown in Figure 1 of the drawing to a substantially horizontal position, the valve member or shutter 9 will be rotated upon the surface of the plate 7 from its closed position shown in Figure 3 of the drawing to an open position, such movement of the valve shutter being limited by the engagement of the pins 15 on the shutter wings with the relatively opposite side edges of the respective openings 8. The free flowing plastic material may thus readily pass through the openings 8 in the plate 7 and drop downwardly by gravity into the jars or other receptacles to be filled. When it is desired to cut off the flow of the material, the handle 17 is only swung downwardly to the vertical position shown in Figure 1. The knife edges 14: of the wings of the valve shutter will thus quickly and cleanly cut through the material so that further flow of the latter through the openings 8 is instantly stopped. Owing to the provision of these knife edges on the two shutter Wings there will not occur any separation of the constituents of which the material may be composed so that the consistency and quality of the material will at all times be uniform.

I have found a valve device as above described to be very advantageous in controlling the feed of mayonnaise dressing to the jars or other receptacles in which it is vended. The device is obviously of a very simple character and can be constructed at small cost. Owing to the simple form of the several elements employed, it will also be apparent that the valve device can be very easily cleaned and thus maintained in athoroughly sanitary condition.

While I have herein described one simple and practical embodiment of the invention, it will nevertheless be understood that in the application of the device to various other analogous uses, certain structural modifications in the various parts may be required and it will, therefore, be understood that I reserve the privilege of resorting to all such winged valve member mounted upon the upper side of said plate, the wings thereof being associated with the respectiveopenings and adapted tocover the same when in one position and when in another position, to substantially uncover the respective openings and overlie the partsof the plate be tween the openings to afi'ord a maximum space through which the plastic material may flow, each wingbeing provided with knife edges along its radial and circumferential edges so as to out through the material with a minimum disturbance there of, means for rotatably securing said valve member upon said plate, and means carried by said coupling member for rotating said valve member to its open or closed positions.

In testimony that I claim the foregoingas m invention I have si ned. 111 name hereto. 1 V RICHARD V HELLMANN. 

